This website has been prepared by
the first "hotel de charme" on the Gallipoli peninsula
Bursa mobile Gendarme-rie Regiments commen-ced duties in the war zone in August 1914 and the Beyoğlu Mobile Gen-darmerie Regiment in January 1915.
Hostile artillery fire till now only from men-of-war. Our
artillery
has suffered no damage.
4th Cavalry Regiment arrived in Schamlitekke, 2 miles south-east of Anafarta
Sagir, at 5pm, and has been brought up to he Anafarta spur as dismounted
riflemen. Machine-gun detachment from the fleet has not arrived.
Will hold Ismail Tepe (W Hills) position under the circumstances. Beg you to
hasten arrival of XVI Corps.
The Gendarmes
were an important part of Major Willmers' small but very successful defence
force in Suvla.
On the 7th August about 6 pm Willmer ordered the troops at Chocolate
Hills to retire to a new position on the Anafarta spur. At 7 pm he files his
report to the 5th Army HQ which is translated by Aspinall-Oglander in
"Military Operations-Gallipoli" - Volume II (p. 266) :
The landing of hostile forces has continued all day. Estimate their present
strength as at least 1 ½ divisions. No energetic attacks on the enemys part
have taken place. On the contrary, the enemy is advancing timidly. His
skirmishers were fired on by our artillery with good effect.
Hill 10 had to be evacuated in the face of superior forces. Kiretch Tepe and
Mestan Tepe (Green Hill) still in our hands. Am expecting a powerful attack against
the latter tonight.
Today,
as in the past the Gendarmerie is an inseparable part of the Turkish armed
forces. Its primary duty is to provide security and public order in the
country in peacetime, so that the citizens are content and sure of their
future. The Gendarmerie undertakes this mission under the jurisdiction of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and in every era it is the eyes, hands and feet
of the state
During the War, the Gelibolu, Bursa, and Beyoğlu mobile Gendarmerie
Regiments functioned in accordance with instructions given in a state of war.
Every Regiment had two Battalions.
The Gelibolu and
In the "2003 yearbook of Gallipoli Studies", (p.157), in an article called The contribution of Gendarmerie units to the Turkish Army at Gallipoli, Adnan Türkeli explains the duties of the Gendarmerie :
The
inscription on the Kireçtepe Gendarmes Memorial reads as follows :
Between the 6th. and the 8th. of August 1915 three
companies of the heroic Gallipoli and
Bursa
Gendarme Battalions stopped English forces, which consisted of two Brigades on
Karakoldag and Kirectepe, and successfully defended the northern flank of the
Anafarta front.